Looking Forward
by TwistedSky
Summary: Stefan realizes that there's an attraction between Elijah and Elena, and in the meantime he also discovers some surprising feelings for the resident Vampire Barbie.


I disclaim! For an amazing twitterpeep, happy birthday, my dear! :) Anyways, for the rest of you . . . enjoy!

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X"I should hate you," Stefan said, causing Elijah to turn around and look at him. The group of them had gotten together to discuss plans of attack for Klaus's arrival, and Elijah had eventually drifted to the window, away from the others. Stefan had followed him, unable to stop himself despite the fact that Damon and Elena were right across the room. He knew Damon would hear every word, but he frankly didn't care.

"Why?" Elijah responded, wondering if Stefan had managed to get an inkling about the . . . fondness he had for Elena.

"Elena."

Elijah stayed stoic. "I'm protecting her, aren't I?"

Stefan smiled sadly, "Do you really expect me to believe that's all it is?"

Elijah gave one of his patented dark smiles, "Yes."

Stefan shook his head. "You're lying." It was all he said, and it was all he needed to say.

Elijah narrowed his eyes. "You said you _should _hate me, don't you?"

Stefan frowned at that. "It's complicated. I've seen the way you look at each other, and I—I want her to be happy. And things are . . . different now. A lot has happened recently, and change . . . change is okay."

"Okay, I'm here, did I miss anything?" At that moment Caroline barged into the room. "Had a thing with—I just had a thing."

At the sound of Caroline's voice Stefan turned around suddenly, and smiled. And then he realized what she meant. _Tyler._ He worried about how close she was getting to Tyler. She was a friend, and he didn't want to see her get hurt, physically or emotionally.

Elijah just stared, watching the bubbly blond as she hugged Elena, narrowed her eyes at Damon and walked over to Elijah and Stefan. "Stefan, hey," she smiled brightly. Then she turned to Elijah, "Hello," her smiled disappeared and she did her attempt at a very 'serious Caroline' face which failed horribly and Stefan had to fight the urge to laugh.

Caroline sent him a look. Stefan just shook his head. "Caroline, have you met Elijah?"

Caroline just glared at Elijah. She didn't trust him.

"Say hello to Elijah, Caroline," Stefan said, in the least condescending way possible.

Caroline stared at Elijah for a moment before responding, "Can't I just shank him?"

Elijah just smiled at that, "I'm pretty sure your friends have already tried that."

Stefan fought the desire to roll his eyes. "That was impalement. Trust me, if we want to kill you, we will."

Elijah raised an eyebrow at that. "The fair Elena may need new protectors, because you both seem rather delusional. I don't believe that's . . . safe."

Caroline started to practically growl at that, but Stefan moved, taking her arm. "Calm down girl."

Damon cut in. "Can we get back to business?" He stared at Caroline for a moment, "And, Caroline, stop spending time with wolfboy, he's rubbing off on you."

Caroline glared at Damon. "I—"

"Damon's right." Stefan said impatiently.

He just wanted to get this over with.

XXXX

Sometimes, when he needed to think, Stefan liked to just go for a run, find a bunny rabbit, and sit down and relax in the middle of the forest.

It made him feel . . . alone. And sometimes he needed to be alone, especially when he needed to think about something serious.

And this was pretty serious.

He had to break up with Elena.

He—sometimes things _changed._

Ever since crazy Katherine had shown up their relationship had been strained. And with the odd _looks_ that Elena and Elijah exchanged, and his own changing feelings . . . he didn't know what to do anymore.

He couldn't stay with her, that was for sure.

He sighed out of exasperation. He turned around from his seat on a fallen tree and wasn't surprised—for some odd reason—to see Elena approaching. "Hey," she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

"Elena, I—I need to talk to you." Now was as good as any time.

Elena sat down. "What's wrong, Stefan?"

Stefan turned to her and smiled sadly. He took her hands in his. "You know I love you."

"And I love you." Elena tilted her head to the side. "Where are you going with this, Stefan?"

"You know that horribly clichéd saying that 'people change' and sometimes they don't change together?"

Elena looked at him in shock. "You're breaking up with me." She stood up suddenly, shaking her hands free of Stefan's. "I can't believe this."

Elena started to cry almost instantly. "Why?"

Stefan stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders, and leaned down slightly, trying to look into her eyes, like he'd done so many times before. "Elena, I know it hurts, but I've seen the way you two look at one another."

Elena seemed to become angry at that, "You think I'm cheating on you? How could you—"

Stefan interrupted her, "I don't. I think that you have feelings you don't understand, and that with everything with Klaus and Katherine, and even Damon . . . you're confused."

"If I'm so confused, how do you know he's what I want?" Elena realized that neither one of them had said his name yet. But somehow she knew that _he _knew.

"Because I can see the way you look at him, and it's not the way you look at me anymore."

"It's only been a few weeks—"Elena protested.

"Sometimes that's all it takes. And Elena, the heart _knows_ what it wants sometimes before the mind is. If I'm wrong we can pretend I never brought this up, but I don't think I am."

Stefan just stood in front of her, removing his hands from her shoulders, and waiting for her response.

"I love you, Stefan." Stefan felt his heart jump, because there was a part of them that had wanted to be wrong—"But you're right. We should end things."

"Okay," It was all he _could_ say. He'd almost wanted a denial.

Elena smiled slightly, placing her hand on his cheek. "You're amazing, Stefan. The fact that you love me enough to let me go makes me not want to."

"I understand love," he replied simply. And he certainly understood heartbreak.

"I should go—" Elena said, looking around nervously. "I should—"

"You should."

As Stefan watched Elena walk away, he wondered if he'd done the right thing. He certainly hoped so. And although for some unexplainable reason he _trusted_ Elijah not to hurt Elena, though he wasn't sure why. It was the look in his eyes. He seemed to truly care about keeping her alive and that _meant_ something.

And if Elijah hurt Elena, Stefan would be there to make sure that Elijah _stayed_ dead after he was through with him.

XXXX

Elena was surprised to see Elijah waiting for her when she returned home. "What are you doing here?" She asked, because she wasn't just going to spill open her heart for him to tear it apart like he'd done those vampires when she'd first met him.

He could be terrifying, and ruthless. And that was part of why she was attracted to him, though she hated to admit it. But it was also in the way that he didn't treat her as something incapable of protecting herself. Although he'd admittedly made himself one of her protectors, he allowed her to actually _voice_ an opinion, and wasn't trying to keep her locked away so that she'd be safe. He treated her—not quite like an equal—but as someone who _mattered._

That _meant_ something.

And it didn't hurt that he was _hot._

She saw him smile, and she wondered if he could somehow sense that she was lusting after him. She shook herself free. "Well?"

He raised an eyebrow—which was somehow ridiculously sexy—and stood up, walking over to her. "I came to talk to you."

Elena opened her mouth to ask why when he suddenly cupped her chin in his hand, moving it slightly. "Have you been crying?"

Elena almost stop breathing. He was _touching_ her, and he was standing so close she thought she was going to faint, but that would have been a _bad_ idea, so she fought to not sink into him.

"Stefan and I broke up," Elena replied finally.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He let go of her and stepped back, and Elena swore like a part of herself had left with him. She had it _bad. _And if Stefan could see it, who else had noticed her panting after him like a bitch in heat?

What if _he_ knew?

"It had to happen eventually. Sometimes people change. We . . . grew apart."

"I'm very sorry to hear that." Elijah replied. "You seemed very happy."

"We were." Elena, despite her recognition that it was for the best, still _hurt._

"It happens."

Elena felt a tear escape from the corner of her eye again.

"I didn't mean to upset you—" he started to assure her, but then she practically jumped in his arms, hugging him, and he froze. Slowly, his hands made it around her.

Elena realized what she'd just done and stepped away quickly. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have—I—"

And with that Elijah's lips captured Elena's.

Elena wanted to die.

She wanted to spend the rest of her life in _this_ moment, and she swore she never wanted it to end.

And when it did, she looked up at him in surprise.

"I apologize, I shouldn't have—"

And Elena silenced his apology with another kiss.

"Elijah, I—"

"You're upset, your emotions are unwieldy. You just lost control. We can put it at that, and leave it be."

Elena frowned. "No."

"No what?"

"It's not like that. I—we broke up because of you." Elena couldn't believe she said the words, but she did.

"I don't understand."

"Stefan thinks I have feelings for you."

"Oh, I knew that." He wasn't going to lie and say that he hadn't.

"You, what? How did you—he—what?" Elena didn't understand what was going on, she felt like she'd missed out on something important.

"The question is, is he right?" Elijah didn't falter, didn't seem outwardly nervous in the least . . . but he _was._

Why? He didn't understand it, but sometimes there were moments when you _connected_ with others. He'd felt a similar, though slightly different, feeling when he'd met Stefan. As if, somehow, they could be _friends._

But Elijah didn't really _have_ friends, so that wasn't going to happen.

He almost hoped it would.

He watched Elena carefully, she seemed to be fighting an epic inner battle, one he wasn't sure if he wanted to end in defeat or success.

Somehow she made him_ want._ And that wasn't a good thing.

"Yes. I—I don't know what it is. But you_'_re just so . . .I don't know. I just _feel_ so much when I'm around you."

Elijah stood, staring at her, unsure of what was supposed to come next. He'd had his share of sex—probably more than his fair share, though it _had_ been a while—but he didn't do the emotional part of relationships anymore. They usually ended too soon, and always hurt most people involved.

"Elijah, Stefan said he thought we were both . . . part of this. Was he right?"

Elijah was annoyed to hear his own words thrown back at him. Was he right? _Was he?_ Even if he were right, should he tell her?

"Elena," he placed his hand against her cheek, cupping it, slightly surprised when she leaned into it. "You captivate like no one else has in a long time."

Elena kissed him at that.

And the world stood still for a brief, perfect, moment.

XXXX

Stefan was avoiding answering Caroline's text messages. Maybe it was wrong of him . . . but he couldn't stand her sympathy, or her pity at this moment. She'd become a friend to him, and that scared him.

The last time he'd had a good friend . . . she'd ended up dead.

Caroline was sweet, spunky, domineering, controlling, terrifying and beautiful. And it was absolutely wrong that he'd been thinking about her with those terms, but he'd been thinking about her _like that_ for a while now.

It was _bad._

He looked down at his phone. Another message.

Maybe she was going to berate him for breaking up with Elena. Maybe she wasn't worried about him at all. She hadn't really indicated her position of the breakup, only that she knew it had happened.

And she'd hinted that Elena herself had told her. And apparently things were working out really well—_already—_for Elena and Elijah.

That wasn't _fair._

Then again, he didn't really expect it to be.

Sometimes he swore he'd rather be stuck in the tomb with Katherine than deal with the rest of reality.

"Stefan." Elijah came into the little nook in the woods where Stefan was currently just . . .waiting. "Have you been here all day?" It was night now, so he certainly hoped not.

"No, I moved. I wanted to be alone."

"Sometimes the best times in one's life are spent alone, lost in thought."

Stefan smiled. "I'm surprised you'd say that. I heard about you and Elena. She didn't waste any time."

"If I had known, I wouldn't have been waiting for her when she got back from her talk with you."

"I appreciate the sentiment." He kind of did, though it didn't make a difference.

"I thought you would," Elijah looked around. "Are you okay?" He said it with what seemed like genuine concern, so Stefan looked up in surprise.

"I—I think I just need to figure out what happens next."

"You could always visit Katherine in the tomb, I'm sure she'd appreciate the company."

"Only if you promise to get me out again, because too much of Katherine . . . won't even kill you. It'll make you kill yourself."

"Good thing you're already dead."

"I'd find a way to decapitate myself."

"I don't doubt it. I'd do the same." Elijah smiled slightly at that. "Still, maybe you should consider that peppy blond. You seem to have a rapport of sorts."

"Caroline?" Stefan smiled. "We do." He looked down at his phone. "But she recently ended things with her boyfriend, and she's getting closer to someone else. We're just friends."

"The human and the werewolf?" Elijah asked, just to make sure.

"Yes."

"She won't change the human, and the werewolf . . . well, you and I both know it won't end well. Maybe you should save her from that heartache."

"I'm not ready to jump straight into another relationship, but I see what you mean."

Elijah cleared his throat unnecessarily. "I'm sorry if this is awkward for you. Elena and I."

"It is. But it'll be fine." He looked down at his phone again. He saw yet another message from Caroline. Maybe sooner than he'd thought.

"Look forward, Stefan. The past is . . . as it is. You cannot alter it. But the future is there. Waiting."

"Look forward," Stefan repeated.

"Exactly."

Stefan stood up, walked over to Elijah. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Elijah asked, more than a little confused.

Stefan attacked him with a manly bear hug.

"Oh." Elijah replied.

"I think this makes us almost friends." Stefan teased.

"I suppose so," Elijah responded, a little unsettled.

"We may have ourselves a bromance on our hands."

"What?"

"Don't worry. You'll find out."

With that Stefan wandered off, dialing Caroline's number. "Hey, Caroline?" She responded with a flurry of insults about him not answering her calls and texts. "I know. I'm sorry. Do you want to get together tonight?"

He was surprised at the joy he heard in her voice when she said yes.

Look forward. That was all he could do.


End file.
